


"Thanks"

by ketchupcrisp



Series: (That Would Be) Enough Timestamps [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, F/M, Gen, M/M, Minor Injuries, Multi, Non-Sexual Age Play, OT8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 10:44:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10512153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ketchupcrisp/pseuds/ketchupcrisp
Summary: Everyone was prepared for somebody to take it badly the first time Tony got injured after becoming their Little. They just weren't entirely prepared for who that somebody would be.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still learning how to tag a series vs. an individual work, so please forgive me if there's anything missing from the list at the moment. 
> 
> Content Warnings: There's a brief scene that technically constitutes age-playing in semi-public, but it it is entirely consensual and in no way played to embarrass Tony. This story is set after (That Would Be) Enough, and contains a brief reference to the team being romantically and sexually involved. The age-play, however, remains and will always remain non-sexual. 
> 
>  
> 
> This one goes out to ReaverQueen, who requested a story in which we see the team respond to Tony being injured. Hope this lives up! <3

No one says it outright, but it’s pretty obvious that they all think they know who will respond badly the first time Tony gets injured during a mission after becoming their little. The second the battle wraps up, half the team immediately makes their way to Iron Man, who is attempting to struggle his way to his feet after not-quite escaping a building collapse. The other half of them find Steve. They almost…surround him, actually? Thor stands directly in front of him, blocking his view of Tony, while Natasha and Bucky flank him on either side. 

“He’s going to be fine,” Natasha says, voice pitched in that slower, deeper tone she normally only uses in the privacy of the Tower. Bucky says nothing, but his hand is hovering above Steve’s wrist, clearly prepared to clamp down if necessary. 

“Yeah, I’m sure he will. Looked like he may have cracked a rib or two, which won’t be pleasant and he’ll probably be a pain about it while he’s healing, but it could have been a lot worse.” All three of the folks surrounding him exchange startled, bemused glances, and Steve is finding himself no less confused than they are. He takes no pleasure at all in seeing Tony, nor any member of his team, injured, but the fact is that it’s a reality of what they all do for a living. And with all the work that Tony has put into his recovery over the past year, Steve has never felt more confident and secure in the other man’s commitment to his own safety as he does these days. Tony will never be a cautious man, but he’s stopped throwing himself on top of every wire he can find, and something minor like this was bound to happen eventually. 

“You’re not…you mean that, don't you?” Bucky asks. “Guys, let him through. Clint, we all owe you fifty bucks. Including you, Tony.” The engineer boos, though it turns into a hiss as Bruce (who didn’t need to transform for this battle) presses an exploratory hand to his side. 

“Come on, Frosty, I’m wounded here!”

“Well you shouldn’t have placed bets on what that injury might provoke in…certain people, should you?” Bucky tosses back, still looking over at Steve every few seconds like he can’t totally believe what he’s seeing.  
****

They have Tony loaded onto the Quinjet when an extremely unexpected voice comes over the comms. 

“Avengers? Acknowledge.” 

“Phil?” Clint jerks in surprise from next to Tony, knocking his head against a compartment above the small bed they’ve laid Tony on. “You’re supposed to be overseeing the thing in Prague, aren’t you? I personally received about eighteen memos to that effect, as if otherwise I might be inclined to bother and harass you just because you’re temporarily handling a team that isn’t us. It’s like Maria doesn’t trust me at all.” Clint is often the only one who can make Phil laugh or even crack a smile when he’s in business-mode, but this time he interrupts the archer mid-rant.

“I want an update on Iron Man’s status immediately. Please.” Tony himself attempts to sit up, rolling his eyes as three separate hands are immediately on his shoulders, easing him back down. 

“‘m fine, Phil. Coupla fractured ribs and maybe a minor concussion, at most. Even Bruce says we’re fine to head back to the Tower and do the scans there—”

“NO.” It’s such a genuinely rare thing for Phil to raise his voice, ever, that Tony’s first hazy thought is that he needs to take another look at the volume regulation on the comms. He really thought he’d worked out all the kinks during the last set of upgrades, but there’s no other reason Agent’s voice would suddenly be loud enough to make him wince. “I…that is, I would prefer you be brought into SHIELD medical.” Tony makes a loud, excessively whiny noise. 

“Agent, c’mon. Bruce is like one class away from officially being ‘that’ kind of doctor, and the equipment we have back at the Tower is probably better than the stuff in HQ anyway.” 

“He really is fine, Phil,” Bruce (who is definitely Tony’s favourite today) adds. Even before he almost had certification as a medical doctor, Bruce’s word about Tony’s health tended to be treated as gospel, so Tony fully expects this to be the end of the conversation. He lets his eyes start to droop closed as he starts feeling the effects of the pain meds they gave him, and thinks happily about waking up back in the Tower, surrounded by the team and probably some delicious post-battle food. 

“Please just…bring him to SHIELD, alright?” There’s a strained note in Phil’s voice that brings Tony immediately out of his sleepy daydream, and he’s not the only one. Clint goes tense and still, and Natasha’s face loses all of the openness that she only permits people to see once work is over and she’s alone with her family. She replies with something that sounds like nonsense, which must be some kind of coded way for her to inquire about Coulson’s status; his reply is equally opaque to Tony’s ears (and how dare they have a secret code he’s not privy to anyway?), but it must mean he’s not in any imminent kind of danger, because both Natasha and Clint relax ever so slightly. Everyone including Tony is still baffled by Coulson’s insistence, but when Clint announces that he’s going to turn the jet around and head to HQ, no one says a word to argue.  
****

From there, things just get weirder for Tony. Coulson is there to meet them as soon as they arrive in medical, bushing off questions about the op he’s supposed to be running and refusing steadfastly to leave Tony’s side. He pelts the docs with incessant questions, and when they confirm Bruce’s diagnosis, Phil starts suggesting every test in the book. 

“Seriously, Agent, what do you imagine I could possibly need that much blood work done for?” Tony demands, growing rather impatient with the whole thing as he feels his perfect night of quiet recovery with the team growing further and further away. “We weren’t exposed to any biochemical agents, the suit’s integrity was never compromised, and I’m not showing any symptoms to suggest there are any internal concerns beyond the fact that my stomach might start digesting itself if I don’t get food soon.” 

“Again, I find myself in the very curious position of having to agree with Tony about his own health,” Bruce adds, trying to temper Tony’s short temper with a gentle teasing grin in Phil’s direction. “Unless there’s something you know that we don’t, Phil, in which case now would be long past the point where you should have told us, there is absolutely no reason to subject Tony to more tests when all he really needs is some food and bed rest.” There’s a very brief second where Tony is certain he sees Phil Coulson blush, but the man turns his face under the guise of reading Tony’s chart for the fifth time before he can be sure. 

“I’d like him here overnight where he can be monitored.” This is absolutely the last straw. 

“Are you fucking kidding me Coulson? We came here as courtesy, mainly because you were being weird about it and I think we all wanted to make sure SHIELD wasn’t secretly being overtaken by hostiles or something. But you’re fine and, as no less than four separate medical professionals plus Bruce have all confirmed, I am also fine and dandy. I have no idea what I’ve done to piss you off enough lately to make you want to try to keep me in SHIELD overnight instead of my own damn bed, but I’m sorry, alright? Please, for the love of all that is good and pure in the world, for _Dummy_ , because I know you love him best regardless of what the other two like to think, please let me go home. Find another way to exact complicated and confusing revenge, would you?” Phil is definitely blushing this time, and Tony is pretty certain he’s going to win this one. Then Steve, the traitor, suddenly seems to figure something out, his mouth hanging open for a moment before he smiles at Coulson. 

“I think Phil’s right.” Everyone else in the room, including Tony, starts speaking at once, but Steve’s ‘I’m Captain America and Disappointing Me Is Basically Treason, Son’ expression is still powerful enough to cut all of them off within seconds. “Come on, team. Let’s clear out and let Tony get some rest.” For his part, Tony gives Cap an absolutely poisonous glare as he retreats from the room, but Steve is still wearing that secretive little smile as he nods to Phil and hustles the others from the room.  
****

With nothing else to do, even raging at Steve and Phil and crafting numerous plans to make their tech backfire and their phones act up becomes dull. Tony is in and out of consciousness for the next several hours, but he comes to when Coulson slips back into his room a little after midnight. 

“Judas,” Tony greets grumpily. When Phil neglects to fire back with his usual dry wit and instead pulls a chair up close to Tony’s bedside, the engineer starts to feel a little concerned despite himself. “You okay? There’s not…Bruce wasn’t right, was he? You’re not keeping something from us? About me, or you?” After all they’d gone through in the wake of the TAHITI project Tony hates himself for even asking, but Phil has been behaving so strangely all day that he just has to be sure. 

“Absolutely not, Tony. I promise.” The other man seems to hesitate, then reaches out a hand and threads his fingers through Tony’s hair with an expression of almost visceral relief. Tony might be confused as hell about what’s going on here, but he’s pretty much always in favour of being touched by the team, so he lets himself make the stupid little purring sound he knows they all love. Sure enough, Phil smiles. “I was so worried about you, honey.” 

Half asleep and drunk on the sensation of Phil’s gentle touches as Tony is, it’s several moments before what he’s just heard hits him. It’s not that the team isn’t affectionate when he’s Big; if anything, now that they’re all sexually involved, most of them are even more inclined to use silly pet-names, probably to try to remind Tony that sex is for fun and for pleasure and nothing else. But Phil just isn’t a nickname kind of guy. Even seconds from orgasm, he’s much more likely to say Tony’s name than anything else, and it sure as hell doesn’t bother Tony because the way Phil says it is equally as hot as the most outrageous things he’s ever been called during sex. Phil only ever calls him honey when he’s—

Oh. _Oh._

“Phil, I’m…you know I’m not little right now, right?” Coulson actually groans, that same blush from earlier returning tenfold, and buries his face in his free hand. 

“I know, Tony. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I swear. It’s just…you were being little when I had to leave for the Prague op, and then the next time I was you it was footage of a damn building coming down around you, and I just…didn’t handle it well.” Apparently reading his stunned silence as anger, Phil keeps talking. “I swear I was never trying to undermine you. You did fantastic work out there today, truly, you prevented at least three civilian fatalities just with that one blast of the unibeam alone. I just, sometimes it’s hard for us to turn off too, you know, and I promise I’ll work on it and get better because I never want you to feel like I treat you differently or…” 

He keeps going, but Tony barely even hears it, because Phil Coulson is honest-to-God _babbling_ , and it might be one of the most endearing things he’s ever heard. 

“Phil,” he interrupts eventually when Agent’s rant shows absolutely no signs of slowing down, “do you need me to try to go down right now so you can see that all the sides of me are okay?” The way the other man’s eyes rake over him almost hungrily is answer enough, so Tony rolls his eyes when Coulson tries to protest, 

“You don’t have to—”

“I know I don’t have to. Take a page from your own parenting handbook and answer the question I asked, huh? And while you try to pretend the answer isn’t a foregone conclusion, lock the door and hand me my phone so that I can double check that all the surveillance in here is disabled, would you?” Phil does as he asked, and after making sure everything is secured, Tony takes several long, deep breaths, closing his eyes and feeling his usually racing brain slow as it always does in response to headspace. It’s not the deepest he’s ever gone, not by a long shot, but Phil doesn’t need an involved scene right now, he just needs to see his little. When Tony opens his eyes again, the other man’s piercing blue ones meet his. 

“Hi Daddy,” he murmurs shyly. Phil almost never wears his work suits like this when they play at home, and having him dressed this way is an uncomfortable reminder that they’re sort of in public, but it’s also kind of comforting, too. Daddy is big and strong and Agent-like and Tony doesn’t have to do anything right now but let him soothe his hurts and fuss over him. 

“Hey baby boy. You got some ouchies, huh? I’m sorry Daddy wasn’t there to stop you from getting hurt.” Tony’s ribs protest when he pulls himself into a sitting position, but Daddy honestly looks very near to tears, and Tony can’t have that. After a moment of slightly clumsy struggle, he brings the bar on the side of the bed down so that he can press himself right up against Phil. 

“‘m okay, Daddy. Promise.”  
****

Everyone (except Clint, who is still crowing over the money he made betting against the odds) is still completely at a loss to explain Steve’s apparently bizarre behaviour. Even after they arrive back the Tower, at least one person stays close to his side the entire evening, as if they think he might have some kind of extremely delayed stress response to Tony being laid up. As long as they’re all so preoccupied with him, they won’t spend as long obsessing about Phil’s actions today, so Steve allows it, encourages it even by wondering out loud about Tony’s status a couple of times and watching the way they all eye him suspiciously, waiting for a sudden show of panic. 

Finally, though, they seem to realize with a mix of disappointment and grudging admiration that no such moment is coming, and slowly most of them disperse to their own floors. As usual, Bucky asks if he can sleep with Steve, but he heads to his own level to change and get ready for bed. A few moments after he does, in a bit of timing that might verge on being too coincidental (life with spies and geniuses is truly a constant undermining of any sense of privacy), Steve’s message alert sounds. He opens it to find a picture of Tony asleep in his bed at medical, one hand raised to his mouth so he can suck his thumb, and the other clasped in Phil’s. The photograph, which Steve saves immediately, is accompanied by a single-word message. 

_Thanks._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy weekend! Hope everyone enjoyed the fluff. Feel free to keep requests (and comments and kudos, of course) coming! I don't update this story with quite the same regularity as the main series, but I do have a list of everything folks have asked to see, and I'll do my best to work all of them in. If you don't eventually see it in the Timestamps, chances are that's because it's coming up in (That Would Be) Enough.


End file.
